NEH Funds 11th Year for The Delta Center’s Most Southern Workshop

Summer 2019 NEH Most Southern workshop participants and staff gather at the Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Garden in Ruleville, MS.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University is among 11 institutions that have been awarded Landmarks of American History and Culture grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The Delta Center’s “The Most Southern Place On Earth: Music, History, and Culture of the Mississippi Delta” teacher workshops is the only NEH Landmarks project funded in Mississippi this year.

This is the 11th year that NEH has awarded a grant to The Delta Center at Delta State for hosting the Most Southern workshop. Over the 11 years, NEH has invested nearly $2 million in Delta State and surrounding Mississippi Delta communities through the Most Southern workshop.

The National Humanities Alliance in Washington, D.C., has recognized the Most Southern workshop as a high impact NEH program in several key measurement areas, including enriching k-12 education; providing lifelong learning opportunities for diverse audiences; facilitating community dialogue; fostering local tourism economies; and promoting civic education.

NEH Most Southern workshop participants read the “Black Power” Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker in Greenwood, MS.

This year, NEH also recognized The Delta Center by using the narrative section of its Most Southern workshop proposal as a model for organizations to use when writing NEH landmarks of American history and culture grant applications.

The Delta Center’s award is part of the NEH’s recently announced $30 million in grants for 238 humanities projects across the country. NEH Landmarks grants support two one-week workshops for a national audience of e-12 educators that enhance and strengthen humanities teaching.

“These challenging times underscore how important the humanities are to making American culture and world history relatable across generations,” said NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. “NEH is proud to award hundreds of grants to keep our nation’s scholars, students, teachers, and citizens moving forward in pursuit of new knowledge and understanding.”

This round of funding, NEH’s last for fiscal year 2020, will support vital research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. These peer-reviewed grants were awarded in addition to $50 million in annual operating support provided to the national network of state and jurisdictional humanities councils.

NEH Most Southern workshop participants experience the flood of 1927 story at the Mississippi River.

“We are honored that NEH has funded our Most Southern Place on Earth teacher workshop for an 11th time,” said Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center and co-director of the workshop. “Our region continues to make considerable strides in cultural heritage development through Delta State and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MDNHA). We look forward to immersing our participants in this culturally significant place by engaging them with scholars, performers, and residents who are telling Delta stories through the Blues, the civil rights movement, the food, the land, and the Mississippi River.”The Delta Center will offer two workshops in summer 2021, with 36 k-12 teachers from throughout the U.S. in each cohort. Over the past decade, the NEH Most Southern workshops have developed a dedicated network of more than 700 alumni scholars who serve as educational and cultural ambassadors for Delta State University and the MDNHA. The workshops use an experiential learning approach, engaging participants directly with historically and culturally significant people and places in the MDNHA.

Workshop participants take what they have learned back to their schools and communities, sharing stories and lessons from the MDNHA with students, colleagues, family and friends, nationally and globally. Many past participants have made return visits to the region, bringing students, colleagues, family and friends with them.

“In previous years, we have had participants from Hawaii, California, Illinois, and New York, as well as several scholars from right here in Mississippi,” said Lee Aylward, program associate for education and community outreach at The Delta Center and workshop co-director. “Our alumni are actively engaged with and have enduring respect for The Delta Center, Delta State and the Delta region because of this workshop. Several of them have presented at our International Conference on the Blues and have completed the International Blues Scholars Program, our online Blues Studies certificate.”

The mission of The Delta Center is to promote greater understanding of Mississippi Delta culture and history and its significance to the world through education, partnerships and community engagement. The Delta Center serves as the management entity of the MDNHA and is the home of the International Delta Blues Project and the NEH Most Southern Place on Earth workshop. For more information, visit http://www.deltacenterdsu.com.

The MDNHA is a partnership between the people of the Mississippi Delta and the National Park Service. The MDNHA was designated by U.S. Congress in 2009 and is governed by a board of directors representing agencies and organizations defined in the Congressional legislation. More information about the MDNHA, including the complete approved management plan, is available at http://www.msdeltaheritage.com.

Spring 2020 Newsletter

Most Southern Place on Earth workshop Celebrates Ten Years

Many thanks to Obsidian Creative Studios for documenting our 10th anniversary workshops. We also appreciate the funding providing by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the nearly 1000 workshop alumni from across the country that have participated in this experiential educational program about the Mississippi Delta.

Copy of NEH "Most Southern Place" July Workshop: Day 6

The July session of the Delta Center’s “Most Southern Place on Earth” workshop concluded this Saturday. Dr. John Strait, a professor of geography at Sam Houston State University, delivered the final lecture. He discussed the diffusion of Delta culture throughout America, focusing on how Southern events, ideas, and people shaped national music, religion, and politics. The group then reflected on their experience by creating their own mojo, an activity that originated in the folk magic of the Hoodoo spiritual tradition. Participants chose symbolic ingredients, such as flowers from the Chinese Cemetery and water from the Mississippi River, and wrapped their selections in black cloth. The mojo acts as both a personal souvenir and an educational tool. Finally, the group presented the Delta Center staff with cards, relived the week through photos and videos, and prepared to say goodbye to “the most Southern place on earth.”

Copy of NEH "Most Southern Place" July Workshop: Day 6

The July session of the Delta Center’s “Most Southern Place on Earth” workshop concluded this Saturday. Dr. John Strait, a professor of geography at Sam Houston State University, delivered the final lecture. He discussed the diffusion of Delta culture throughout America, focusing on how Southern events, ideas, and people shaped national music, religion, and politics. The group then reflected on their experience by creating their own mojo, an activity that originated in the folk magic of the Hoodoo spiritual tradition. Participants chose symbolic ingredients, such as flowers from the Chinese Cemetery and water from the Mississippi River, and wrapped their selections in black cloth. The mojo acts as both a personal souvenir and an educational tool. Finally, the group presented the Delta Center staff with cards, relived the week through photos and videos, and prepared to say goodbye to “the most Southern place on earth.”

Copy of NEH "Most Southern Place" July Workshop: Day 6

The July session of the Delta Center’s “Most Southern Place on Earth” workshop concluded this Saturday. Dr. John Strait, a professor of geography at Sam Houston State University, delivered the final lecture. He discussed the diffusion of Delta culture throughout America, focusing on how Southern events, ideas, and people shaped national music, religion, and politics. The group then reflected on their experience by creating their own mojo, an activity that originated in the folk magic of the Hoodoo spiritual tradition. Participants chose symbolic ingredients, such as flowers from the Chinese Cemetery and water from the Mississippi River, and wrapped their selections in black cloth. The mojo acts as both a personal souvenir and an educational tool. Finally, the group presented the Delta Center staff with cards, relived the week through photos and videos, and prepared to say goodbye to “the most Southern place on earth.”

NEH "Most Southern Place" July Workshop: Day 6

The July session of the Delta Center’s “Most Southern Place on Earth” workshop concluded this Saturday. Dr. John Strait, a professor of geography at Sam Houston State University, delivered the final lecture. He discussed the diffusion of Delta culture throughout America, focusing on how Southern events, ideas, and people shaped national music, religion, and politics. The group then reflected on their experience by creating their own mojo, an activity that originated in the folk magic of the Hoodoo spiritual tradition. Participants chose symbolic ingredients, such as flowers from the Chinese Cemetery and water from the Mississippi River, and wrapped their selections in black cloth. The mojo acts as both a personal souvenir and an educational tool. Finally, the group presented the Delta Center staff with cards, relived the week through photos and videos, and prepared to say goodbye to “the most Southern place on earth.”

NEH "Most Southern Place" July Workshop: Day 5

On Friday, the Most Southern Place on Earth workshop headed to Memphis, Tennessee. Along the way, the group stopped in Clarksdale to visit the Greyhound Bus Station and witness the physical remainders of Jim Crow: separate waiting rooms that once divided black and white passengers. After arriving in Memphis, participants went first to the Cotton Museum, then to the Stax Museum, dedicated to Stax Records and the soul music it cultivated. The group split in two for lunch at Central BBQ and Lyfe Kitchen before reuniting at the National Museum of Civil Rights at the Lorraine Motel. The evening concluded with the traditional march of the ducks at the Peabody Hotel.

Click "Read more" above to see photos and explore a more detailed account of the day.

NEH "Most Southern Place" July Workshop: Day 4

The Most Southern Place workshop continued this Thursday. The day began with a driving tour of Mound Bayou, including stops at the Taborian Hospital and T.R.M. Howard's Freedom Trail marker. Next came a stop at Po' Monkey's, where participants learned about the central role juke joints played in Delta culture. After a brief break, civil rights leader Charles McLaurin shared his experiences with the group. The afternoon focused on the story of Emmett Till through several sessions: a panel featuring Emmett's cousin, a trip to the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center, and a stop at Bryant's Grocery. Finally, the group paid their respects at one of three graves attributed to blues legend Robert Johnson.

Click "Read more" above to see photos and explore a more detailed account of the day.